Isekai For Hire Chapter 32: Who’s the Boss?

Read chapter 32 of Isekai For Hire by wk_rust on NovelPedia.

Who’s the Boss? Lorena followed Naith to a bar in Old Town. She hadn’t been to this bar specifically, but she’d been to enough crappy bars in her life to know the type. Low lighting, sticky floors, and watered down drinks. In a world with magic and magical cleaning items why is the floor sticky? I’m not talking to you. Lorena sighed, Ren had been quiet and tense since the dwarf. If she took the time to reflect on it, Lorena knew she’d see it from Ren’s perspective. But she didn’t have the time, or the emotional space, to do so. The whole point of all of this was to get to Bale, and she knew it in her bones that this job would lead her to him. Weaver and Harkyn were already sat at a round table in the back of the bar with three empty seats. Lorena studied Harkyn as they approached, he seemed off, tense. His shoulders were hunched. His hair lacked its usual wavy quality and instead was a mess, like he’d slept on it weird. His eyes were slightly bloodshot. He didn’t react when they approached, just stared holes into the table. Naith sat next to Harkyn, and Lorena sat next to her, leaving her directly across from Weaver. “How’d it go?” “Fine,” Lorena said. Weaver looked to Naith, who shrugged. “There was a slight complication, but she handled it well.” Lorena’s skin heated at the comment, maybe Naith wasn’t who she thought she was. “Anything I need to worry about?” “No. Just one of Vess’s girls. I took care of it.” Weaver nodded then accepted Lorena’s quest turn in and got up and went to the bar. Level 16 Achieved! New ability: Backstab - Only usable from behind, strike the enemy in the back for a guaranteed critical strike. Costs 50 Energy, grants 2 combo points. +1 Class Specialization Talent Point, available once your specialization has been chosen. Level 16? She checked her notifications and saw that she had gotten a level during the job she’d just done. Level 15 Achieved! Class Specialization available She read over her new skill and excitement buzzed within her, but her stomach still felt queasy from the interaction with Naith. She tried to distract herself. “How about a fun fact,” Lorena said to Harkyn, trying her best to sound cheery. “Harkyn?” She said again, this time poking his hand. He stirred, seemingly coming back from someplace far away. “Yes?” “She asked for a fun fact, for some reason,” Naith said. “Oh yes, of course. Let’s see…” He looked around the room for inspiration. “Fun fact. The kingdom spends on average 8% of its entire yearly budget on subsidizing the cost of alcohol. And just this time last year they had to spend only 2% to maintain an acceptable price.” Lorena’s eyebrows rose. That seemed like an absurd amount to spend for booze to be cheaper. The booze isn’t even good, she said to Ren. Stop. Talking. To. Me. “Then why is it still so expensive? It seems outrageously expensive.” “What is?” Weaver asked, sitting down with a bubbling mug of something that smelt faintly of… cinnamon? Not quite, but perhaps that was closest Earth equivalent to the spice. “Harkyn was just telling us a fun fact about the alcohol subsidies.” Weaver groaned. “Talk about a racket. The damn Brocken are gouging us, out of spite I’m sure. Haven’t touched the price of alcohol in fifty years then out of nowhere they increase it by 6% across the board. And they call me a criminal.” “They do?” Naith asked. Weaver shrugged. “They would if I ever got caught. Which I don’t,” he said with a sly smile, an unusual break of character from his usual serious demeanor. Harkyn stood out of nowhere, his energy seemingly fully returned. “Greetings, Lord Shade.” For a moment all Lorena could hear was the rush of blood in her ears, followed by an intense ringing. A dull ache pulsed in her chest. She looked down, expecting to see a sword but saw nothing. It was him. The Rogue from the Morrison Experience. A mix of fear, excitement, pride, and immense terror fought for dominance inside her. She had hedged a lot on this bet, but it had paid off. Weaver